Frostbitten
by silverwaves0210
Summary: On their way to the North Pole, the gaang runs into a storm and must stop to set up camp. Aang disappears into the storm, and Katara and Sokka go out to search for him. Kataangst-y.


_Author's Note: Just a short compilation to tide you guys over before the next chapter of Dear Diary. (Coming Soon!)_

* * *

The day was cloudy and grey and Katara suspected a storm on the horizon. Since they were nearing the North Pole, they could guess that it would be a blizzard. Katara took precautions so that the gaang would land earlier than they had planned, and they had set up camp, put up the tarp, and found a cave to dwell in temporarily. They were starting a fire inside when Aang stood up and starting walking out.

"Aang, where are you going?" Katara looked up from her tending.

Aang looked back, keeping the same pace. "Who knows how long we could be stuck? I should get some food for us just in case."

"Don't forget the meat!" Sokka waved after him, keeping a steady eye on his small fire.

"Sokka, do you listen after you hear the word 'food'?" Katara berated him. "Aang, it doesn't matter. We'll manage if that does occur, but your safety is first. The storm is due any moment and I don't want you to get lost!"

"Don't worry, Katara! I can get to and fro fast, and I won't be out too long." Aang assured.

"I don't know, it just seems dangerous," Katara inquired.

"Let the kid go," Sokka told his sister. "What's the worst that can happen?"

"A lot," Katara muttered.

"Hey, aren't I supposed to be the negative one?" Sokka poked.

Katara laughed. "Okay, fine! Just hurry up, and please, be careful."

"I will," Aang promised and walked out.

Katara's smile faded as he disappeared and she sighed. "I really hope he'll be alright."

She felt a hand on her shoulder as Sokka reassured her. "He will."

--

An hour later, Katara found herself still waiting for Aang's arrival. She kept glancing outside nervously as Sokka was trying to converse with her. A soft white blanket covered the ground as the storm started to pick up.

Katara glanced behind her for what Sokka assumed what the millionth time before he lost his patience.

"Okay, Katara! Sheesh, I get it! You're worried about Aang, but give him a little breathing room!"

Katara looked back at him, unconvinced. "Sokka, I know you probably spaced out during the time Aang left, but Aang promised he'd be quick!"

"And he will be, it's only been an hour." Sokka reminded her.

"How long does it take to get food!?" Katara threw her hands in the air.

"Just give him a little more time," Sokka pleaded.

"There is a snowstorm on the horizon; we can't chance something like this!" Katara sounded determined.

"Stop acting so motherly," Sokka scolded. "I'll tell you what, we'll wait another hour, and if Aang isn't back, _then_ we'll go looking for him. Deal?"

Katara looked at the glowing fire, considering the options. She sighed, "Fine."

"Okay, then," Sokka agreed. "Now, where was I…?"

--

Katara stared at the fire, counting inside her head while completely ignoring Sokka talk endlessly about irrevelent topics.

_5, 4, 3, 2, 1 _Katara counted down the hour. _Time's up!_

Katara sprung up.

"Hey!" Sokka whined. "Were you even listening?"

Katara ignored him. "Time's up," she said out loud.

She turned towards the entrance of the cave, and instantly her heart started pumping wildly.

The entire entrance was completely blocked by piled up snow. Katara had no idea the storm had gotten so bad, she had been so preoccupied with her counting. But she knew someone who may have noticed…

"SOKKA," Katara screamed. "Why didn't you tell me!?"

Katara whipped her head back to Sokka, but found out that he was wearing a similar expression to her reaction.

"I-I honestly didn't know!" Sokka defended himself, putting his hands up in surrender. "I-"

"Save your breath," Katara turned back to the challenge in front of her. "I believe you."

"I-I… wait… you do?"

"Yes. You were probably _so_ absorbed in your conversation with yourself, you hardly noticed." Katara's cold voice contrasted with her teasing statement.

"Well, uh- yeah, I… hey!" Sokka shouted.

"Sokka, come here," Katara sounded determined. "I'm going to try to water-bend the snow away."

Sokka looked surprised. "Katara, are you sure? That's a lot of snow and you can barely water-bend a cup of-"

Sokka saw how fierce his sister looked and stopped talking. When his sister cared so deeply for something, almost nothing could stand in her path. Not even a snow blizzard would hold her back.

Katara motioned for Sokka to take a few steps back. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, her hands rising and declining in tune to her breath. Finally, she opened her eyes, dug her feet into position as one hand dashed forward and the other hand retracted towards her chest.

Sokka watched in fascination as the snow before him quickly shot back into the storm. Instantly, the winds of the blizzard rushed into their cozy haven and snow blew around them, whipping at their faces and tugging at their clothes.

Appa groaned and seeked solace deeper inside the cave, along with Momo.

"Come on!" Katara shouted to her brother over the roaring of the winds.

Sokka followed his sister, reaching for the hood of his coat as he struggled for warmth.

_Oh no, _Katara fretted to herself, trudging blindly through the wild storm. _How could I have been so stupid as to trust Sokka!? When has his instincts ever been right? Aang is stuck in the storm, what if I can't get him back?_

The wind stung her face with cold as Katara continually blasted huge piles of snow out of her path. She wondered where she was suddenly getting the strength to battle a storm, but pushed the thought to the back of her head.

Deeper and deeper into the forest Katara and Sokka searched, but there was too much ground to cover, too much snow, and it was getting too cold.

"No," Katara whispered to herself, allowing her brother to catch up to her.

"Katara," her brother panted, his eyes wide and his face pale.

"NO!"

Out of rage, Katara stomped her foot on the ground as threw her hands up. All the snow around her going a couple feet was blasted back. Katara sat on the ground and hugged her knees, ignoring the icy sting charging through her whole body.

"Katara, look," Katara ignored her brother. Her hope was leaving as fast as her body heat, and she was tired. Come to think of it, she was really tired. One little nap couldn't hurt…

"Katara!" Sokka pushed his sister. "Don't you dare even think about falling asleep! Now, look over there!"

Katara's drowsy eyes traced Sokka's arm to where he was pointing. Her eyes widened in hope. Could it be?

There, right in the clearing Katara had created, lay a single frostbitten pear. Katara looked up at Sokka.

"Do you think that could have been part of the food Aang had gathered?" she asked.

Sokka shrugged. "I don't see any pear trees around, do you?"

Katara slowly stood up and walked towards the pear. She bent down and picked it up, studying it.

_I'm coming for you, Aang._

Dropping the pear, Katara got back into her water-bending stance and blasted away all of the snow near the spot she found the pear. About five feet away, under about a foot of snow, she saw a flash of yellow before it was covered up by white again.

"AANG!" Katara screamed, running over to the white patch. Getting down on her knees, she frantically dug around, uncovering the body of her friend.

"Oh, Aang," she mumbled when she had fully uncovered his body.

Frozen tears fell down her cheeks and she reached down and clutched his hand.

"K-Katara…" the young boy muttered.

Katara looked astonished. "Aang!" she rejoiced. "You're alive!"

Katara hugged her friend closely to warm him, but she barely had any heat herself.

"Come on," she whispered. "Let's get somewhere safe."

Katara and Sokka carefully lifted the young air bender from the pile of snow and traveled back to their hideout as quickly as they could. Luckily, they were able to retrace Katara's path before _too_ much snow took its place.

When they finally reached the cave, Katara and Sokka softly placed Aang on his back atop Katara's sleeping bag.

"Just don't go to sleep, okay?" Katara told Aang. "Just please don't go to sleep..."

Katara airily moved around the cave, desperate to find something to help Aang. She took a bowl, melted some snow, tore some old clothes into rags, spared as many blankets as she could find, and tried to boost the fire as much as she could. She covered Aang up under many blankets and made him hot soup.

--

"K-Katara…" Aang finally muttered under his breath. "C-can I p-please… go to sleep…n-now…"

"Not yet, Aang," Katara soothed, rubbing the arrow on his forehead with her thumb. "Now, let me see your fingers."

Aang weakly lifted his hands from under the covers and showed them to Katara. Katara softly unwrapped the bandages that she made out of the rags and examined the fingers. They had turned a dark grey. The storm had almost turned them black. Katara had done everything that she could to turn them back to their pale color.

"Good. Okay, Aang, I'll wrap them up again. You can go to sleep now."

As Katara re-wrapped Aang's frostbitten fingers, her eyes scanned over every visible part of his body. His face was a chalky color, and as far as she knew, his arms, legs, and torso were too.

Katara closed her eyes and put Aang's hand down. She realized how close she was to losing him. If she had lost Aang, her world would never be complete. Katara picked up Aang's hand again and flinched when she felt a spark go through them.

"Katara?" Aang looked up at Katara with questioning eyes.

_He saw me flinch, _Katara thought. _I feel that spark every single time we touch. It's getting harder and harder to ignore._

"It's fine," Katara smiled, but Aang read her eyes.

He curled up in his sleep. "Okay," he said suspiciously. Then he yawned and fell asleep.

Katara stood up and walked around the cave. A feeling of dread had creeped up and taken hold of her.

"Katara," Sokka came up from behind her and grabbed her shoulder. "Is Aang okay?"

Katara nodded. "Yeah, he'll be fine. He just needs rest and warmth."

Sokka stared behind him at Aang's sleeping form. "Yeah…"

Katara watched Sokka as he looked down at his feet.

"Is there something you want to tell me?"

Sokka looked up. "No, why do you ask?"

Katara shrugged. "You just seem kind of uneasy."

"Oh, yeah…"

Katara sat down and patted a spot next to her. Sokka obeyed and sat beside her.

"It's okay, you can talk about it," Katara assured.

Sokka drew a deep breath. "It's just that, I guess I feel guilty."  
Katara looked surprised. "Guilty? About what?"

Sokka looked at her in the eye. "You were right. You're always right. I should've listened to you and went out to look for Aang. Or even better, said no to him going out in the first place."  
"Sokka, that's not your fault."

"Yeah it is. I was stupid, arrogant, lazy, and careless."

"Sokka, don't think that," Katara placed her hand on his shoulder. "It was my fault, too. It was Aang's fault; it was the storm's fault. When there are that many things to blame, it stops becoming anyone's fault. It's just becomes… a mistake."

Sokka nodded. "I guess that's true, but… I don't know. I just feel angry at myself."  
Katara hugged her brother. "Don't be," she told him. "Aang will be okay."

Sokka stood up and walked back towards Appa where he lied down on the stone floor and tried to fall asleep there since he had donated his sleeping bag to Aang's benefit.

--

The morning had come by fairly quickly. Katara had woken up early to check on Aang. His color had come back for the most part, and it looked like he would be okay. The storm had practically disappeared. Snow had heavily blanketed the ground, but at least the sky was safe.

Katara packed up Appa with all of their supplies.

"Are you sure you're up to taking flight again, Aang?" Katara asked. "We could always wait a day or so, it's okay.

Aang sat up in his sleeping bag, groaning slightly. "Yeah, I'm sure. I want to get to the North Pole as quickly as possible."  
"Okay, then," Katara said, still a bit unsure.

Aang looked around the cave, feeling helpless. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Katara asked. "For what?"

"For going out in the storm and putting you through all that trouble. I thought I would be able to take it. The storm had started, and I knew I should head back, and that you'd be worried, but I was having fun. I just wanted to play in the snow before I headed back for a few minutes. The snow storm started to get heavy, and some snow on the branches of a tree collapsed and fell on me. I tried to get out, but it was heavy. I got really cold, and then I got numb, and I couldn't move."

Katara didn't face Aang. She looked down at the ground, slightly horrified. Aang must have been so scared. So that was really it? He was just having simple fun?

"Aang, just don't even try to say sorry," she turned and faced Aang. "Everybody thinks it was their fault but it wasn't. It was just an accident."

Aang looked down.

"Come on," Katara said. "Let's get you on Appa."

Sokka and Katara got on either side of Aang. He wrapped his arms around them and futilely tried to walk as they dragged him towards his giant pet.

Once Aang was seated on Appa, he thanked his friends and they started into the sky.

Katara looked back at her friends from her seat at the reigns and sighed. Aang was safe, and with proper care he would be as good as new in no time. She could tell both boys still held their guilty burdens, but hopefully those would wear off in time, too.

Katara was reminded of how close she was to losing Aang. How horrible would it have been, if Sokka hadn't pointed out that frostbitten pear? Would they have given up, and left their spot so painfully close to Aang? Life without Aang was too horrible for Katara to imagine. Despite his role as the Avatar and his destiny to save the world from war, Katara also knew it would be the loss of a good friend. Katara never really had any friends. Sokka had been the only one there she could talk to, and even then Sokka would never really want to talk to his little sister anyway. Aang had been so welcoming to her in a way no one else had ever given the effort to. Katara knew that if Aang ever disappeared, so would her first ever real friend.

_I wonder if he knows how much of a difference he made in my life,_Katara pondered. _He means so much to me._

Keeping that in mind, and the fact that Aang was going to be okay, Katara continued steering Appa in the direction of the North Pole, awaiting Aang's and her water-bending master.

* * *

_Author's Note: This idea sparked in my head some years back, as you can tell, during Season 1. I thought it was time I get off my butt and actually write it. Lazy ending, sorry. I couldn't think of how to end it, so I went the easy way out and used cliche. I hope the story is okay, though. It sounded cooler in my head..._

_P.S. Sorry guys, no make-out scene. I just didn't find something like that appropriate in this story. At least it still is Kataang..._


End file.
